'Not denied for past mistakes': Incarcerated cosmetology graduates walk stage in prison ceremony

Estelle Atkinson, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Jan 10, 2025

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LAS VEGAS -- Cosmetology students turned the tassels on their graduation caps after walking the stage inside Nevada’s women’s prison on Monday.

“This really did save my life,” said Amber Wharton, a member of the most recent graduating class of Expertise Cosmetology Institute’s New Path program.

Gwen Braimoh, the institute’s executive director, developed the program, which takes place at Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center, back in 2016.

She estimated that of the 85 or so students who have completed the program, only two have ever returned to prison.

“I feel so warm and fuzzy inside,” Braimoh said. “I know the hard work that went into it.”

‘No excuse’

Wharton, who has been incarcerated within the Nevada Department of Corrections since 2017, said she has two children — a daughter who is 18, and a son who is 14.

Her daughter, a college student, inspires her to continue to educate herself, Wharton said. “I know I should have been her inspiration, but she’s been my inspiration, she said.

Wharton is currently serving a sentence for escaping prison after being incarcerated for possession of a controlled substance. While at Florence McClure, Wharton said she lost someone close to her.

The loss made her decide she didn’t want to go back to prison again, and within two months she got her high school diploma.

On Monday, Wharton spoke to her classmates from a podium on stage. She thanked her instructors for their patience, and said she is walking away from the program a licensed cosmetologist who is both more humble and more confident.

“Now, there’s no excuse,” Wharton said. “Even my walk is different. I feel like I’ve grown up.”

Approving licenses

Nevada state law requires that Steven McDonald, executive director of the State Board of Cosmetology, must personally review all felony submissions for a license.

In his two years on the board, McDonald said his approval rate for these applications is 100%. “We have not denied anyone for their past mistakes,” McDonald said.

“This has been really a wonderful experience because of the talent that they need to have to get through this program. It’s a lot. I can’t do it. I can’t cut my hair, I can’t do my skin, can’t do my nails,” McDonald said. “But they can.”

The program takes 1,600 hours and several examinations to complete, and graduates leave prison with their cosmetology license.

When Wharton found a note on her bed that said “passed,” she said she felt a sense of euphoria. “I don’t really know how to explain it,” she said. “I cried.”

‘Rescued’

Jon Ponder, chief executive officer of Hope for Prisoners, a nonprofit organization with the mission of helping people reenter the community and workforce, led the graduates in a visual exercise.

“Take your eyes and fix them in the palms of your hand,” Ponder said. He asked the graduates to imagine that each of the lines in their palms represents “something in life that’s happened to you that you wish that you could erase.”

“Put your hands in front of your eyes. Can you see me?” Ponder asked. “Neither can you see your future with your past in your face.”

Karen Kincaid walked the stage on Monday alongside her fellow classmates. As well as being a student in the cosmetology program, Kincaid, who previously told the Review-Journal she has been in and out of prison since she was 17 years old, is also a student in a new HVAC program offered at Florence McClure by the College of Southern Nevada.

“Coming to prison, it rescued me,” Kincaid, who is currently serving a sentence for reckless driving resulting in death, said. “I wasn’t arrested. I was rescued. It took me a longer time than others.”

Expertise Cosmetology Institute is the first place that gave her a chance, Kincaid said. “I never played with dolls in my life,” she said of starting the program, “but it was amazing.”